One Lovely Night
by My Love Is Pure
Summary: Updated! R&R!
1. What A Surprise!

Chapter 1

Light much too bright for early morning streaming through the window partially woke Zoe Busiek, the sandy-haired blonde rubbing the tip of her nose before rolling over onto her stomach with a moan and burying her face in the spicy smelling pillow that her head was resting on. "'S too early; not time yet," she moaned to herself, slurring the words.  
  
"I think it depends on how you look at it," came the completely unexpected answer that made Zoe flip onto her back abruptly and pull the bedclothes away from her face. "You may think it's too late."  
  
Zoe gulped and looked over slowly, recognizing the voice but wanting to see the physical evidence. Sure enough, her partner Dan Lennox was sitting next to her on the bed. He was under the covers, which were pooled in the lap beneath his bare chest. "Dan?"  
  
"Good guess," was the wry answer.  
  
"Am I dreaming?"  
  
Dan laughed, shaking his head. "You dream about me? All this time and now I find out that you dream about me? Zoe, I'm flattered!"  
  
Zoe grabbed the pillow that she was using and sat up quickly as she launched it towards her partner's head. She quickly slouched back down as the comforter slipped to reveal bare breasts, and she pulled it back up. Her ire at his teasing abruptly gone, she swallowed as she asked a question that she'd never thought she would have to ask: "how did we get here?"  
  
"I have no idea," was the grim answer, all amusement stripped from his voice.  
  
"Why am I undressed?" Zoe tried next.  
  
"I'm a man, you're a woman…. Do you need diagrams?"  
  
Enraged at the flippant remark, Zoe jumped up from the bed, taking the sheet and comfort with her and wrapping it around herself in one fluid movement. She was immediately mollified by Dan's yelp as he twisted and landed on the carpet on the opposite side of the bed, a blur of nicely tanned bare flesh all that was visible.  
  
"What the hell did you do that for?"  
  
"I'm a woman, you're a man… do you need diagrams?" she shot back, shaking her head. "Dammit, Dan, what the hell were you thinking?"  
  
"Me? It's just as much your fault as it is mine!"  
  
"What's my fault?"  
  
Dan looked at the rumpled bed that lay between them and shook his head. "Listen… we need to talk about this calmly, okay? Do you have any memory of last night?"  
  
"I remember going to Malroney's," she answered, naming Dan's bar of preference.  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
Zoe thought about it before shaking her head.  
  
Dan sighed, thinking over his own recollection of the night before. "I don't remember much beyond that, but try to remember every detail, okay?"  
  
"I am aware of what we need to do, Daniel," she snapped.  
  
"Listen, I didn't ask to wake up next to you any more than you did me, lady. Don't jump down my throat because you had a few drinks too many and blacked out!"  
  
"So I was the only one who blacked out? What - were you so hard up for sex that you just had to sleep with someone and I was already there and drunk?"  
  
Zoe shook her head and stifled a scream before stalking to the other side of the room where their clothing was visible. The garments were neatly folded and placed on the dresser. She grabbed hers and looked around the room for the door to the bathroom; there were three and she tried the closest one, lucking out when it opened to reveal a plain white tiled room. She went inside and slammed the door shut before dropping her cloth armor and turning on the shower. Stepping under it, she cleaned herself quickly before getting out and drying herself, getting dressed with minimum fuss.   
  
Feeling much more in control, she took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob that would open the door on a situation she had no idea how to resolve.

Me: Get ready! I'm taking yourrr little challenge Kam!!!


	2. Not Helping

   Zoe slowly opened the door, terrified as to what mess she had gotten herself into. Her bathroom door swung open to reveal Dan fully dressed in his wrinkled blue shirt.

   "So are you in a better mood now?" snapped the devilishly handsome man. Zoe felt the warmth of anger bubbling in her chest. She got to the point of not being able to contain it any longer.

   "Dan! If I hear an ounce of attitude from you! I-I-I," she yelled until she just broke down right onto the floor. Tears streamed down Zoe's exhausted face. Dan walked quietly toward her and sat down in front of her.

    "I'm sorry Zoe. C'mon. It's ok. Please don't cry," he pleaded while wiping her tears away.

   "What am I suppose to do Dan? For the first time in my life I woke up not knowing what had happened the night before and I LIVED IN VEGAS!" she said, tears still trickling down. Dan couldn't help but laugh.

   "How is it that you can be in so much pain and yet you can make me laugh?" he said trying to cheer her up but obviously it wasn't working. "Would it be that bad, Zoe?"

   "What?"

   "Sleeping with me. I've never had this reaction before. I mean there was this one where I had this stripper," he said mocking Zoe's voice very much like she would do, as she would ramble on about a Vegas story. That made Zoe laugh. The tears had stopped and she was now trying to stand up. Dan followed suit and stood up too. Zoe looked around and noticed a familiar bed, night table, and some purses. This was her house! Her room!

   "Oh my god! Dan! This is my bedroom!" she yelled in a panic.

   "Yes and?" he said not seeming to understand what the fuss was all about.

   "What? You knew we were in my house? So it wasn't enough to have sex with me, you had to do it in my bedroom?" she screamed. She raised her hand back and then slammed it against Dan's cheek.

    "I guess that answers my question if your in a better mood or not," he joked quietly.

   "I want you out of my house right now," she said quietly keeping her eyes to the floor.

   "But Zoe," he said innocently.

   "Dan I want you out," she said more harshly. She then saw how hurt Dan was and added, "please." Zoe looked up into Dan's saddened eyes. He slowly walked out. Zoe sat back down onto her bed as she heard a car star up outside her house. She laid back and placed her hand into Dan's bed imprint. It was still warm; you could still smell his cologne. Zoe quietly started to cry again. She stopped suddenly looking at the clock. 7:40.

   "Oh no! The kids! School!" she quickly got up then fell back down.  **_Ok head hurts! Oh! I defiantly drank last night. _**Zoe ran down her steps yelling the kid's name and saying how she slept late. At the end of the steps there was a surprise. Cliff and Hannah were dressed and had their book bags ready.

   "Aunt Zoe. C'mon we are going to be late for school!" exclaimed Hannah.

   "I'm sooooo glad that you wake up to alarms!" Zoe shouted in joy while grabbing her car keys. They ran out the door. It wasn't until Zoe was half way to school that she realized that she was missing a child.

    "Taylor! Where is Taylor?"

   "She got a ride with one of her friends."

   "Any other time I would be angry at her for not asking me but now…YES!"

   Zoe got both kids to school safely and on the way back home she thought about the night before trying to remember anything. She could only remember a few tidbits. She remembered being wet, her in Dan's arms, and a large amount of beer. It couldn't have been a good night. When she got home she changed her clothes to a more work appropriate outfit.  She dreaded having to face Dan again. How could he do that to her? He took advantage of her. Zoe came up with a plan. She wasn't going to go near Dan, nor speak to him all day. She knew this wouldn't help the situation but it was the best she could do.


	3. Thinking Of Working At Work

   The elevator stopped on her floor. Zoe walked into work with a screaming headache that wasn't helped by M. Pearl McGuire's yelling.

   "I want those files on my desk by three!" shouted the dark skinned woman. M turned in Zoe's direction and immediately stormed at her. "Zoe. I don't know if you knew this or not," she said with a kind of fake sweetness," but work starts at eight! Not nine thirty!"

   Zoe put her head down and simply replied," I'm sorry."

   "If your partner can get here at the right time I should assume that you could do the same!"

   Zoe shot her head up. "What? How did Dan get here that quick? He only left my house at 7:30!"

   "What was that?!" asked M with curiosity.

   "Nothing. Never mind. Where is Daniel?"

   "He's in there," she replied as she pointed to Dan's office. Zoe told M that she would never be late again and then Zoe made her way over to Dan's office. She quickly opened the door to see Dan on the phone. He was wearing the same clothes he had on that morning. The blue shirt was still wrinkled, face unshaven with that sort of ruggedly sort of look, and the circles under his eyes were so intense you would have sworn he was wearing eyeliner. He peered up from his desk.

   "I'm so sorry. I really have to go. Bye," he gently put down the phone. "Um- hi."

   "So what did you just go straight from my house to work? Did you even take a shower?" asked Zoe. She didn't realize why she came to Dan's office. Her plan was not to speak to him at all. Why did she have the urge to just be with him? Was it the fact that there was a small possibility that they had sex the night before? But that shouldn't make her want to talk to him. If anything it should make her want not want to have anything to do with him.

   "I didn't feel like getting fired this morning thank you."

   "Oh and you showing up to work a mess is a really good way not to get fired."

   "Oh please! Why are you even in my office?!" Zoe put her hand on her head in pain.

   "Dan, please don't yell," she whispered trying to get over the side effects of a hangover," do you remember how much I drank last night?"

   "Apparently a lot. Are you sure you can't remember anything about last night?" he asked a bit softer.

   "On the way home from dropping the kids at school I remembered…"

   "Kids? Did you talk to them?"

   "Well Cliff and I talked about his history exam he took yesterday and Hannah and I talked about her spelling test she is taking today."

   "And Taylor?"

   "Taylor had a friend come pick her up- wait why do you want to know if I talked with the kids or not?" Zoe asked being more confused than she thought she could be.

   "Oh no reason just curious."

   "I'm not buying it but not going there now." Zoe walked out of the room, closing the door with the door with minimum amount of sound. Dan sat back down in his desk placing his hands to his head. If she ever knew what happened last night he knew he would have no chance at all with Zoe. He had made a mess of things. If he would tell her what happened last night she might speak to him sooner than 100 years. Why didn't he tell Zoe sooner? He knew every little detail about last night and lied right to her face. He was thrilled though that she had not spoke to Taylor. If she had he would for sure be a dead man.

   "Well Dan," he said quietly to himself," isn't this a great mess?" Then he heard a voice from the door speak.

   "It sure is," replied M,"Now would you mind telling me what happened with you and Zoe?" Dan stood up as M closed the door and walked towards Dan. "And if you don't tell me I will fire you." The way she said it didn't make it sound like a threat but a promise.

    Dan was half smiling. "That is our personal business. I don't have to tell you a thing. You don't scare me like you do everyone else."

   "I know that I don't scare you. That's why when I say 'you will be fired' I mean it."

   Zoe once again quietly closed her office door. She thought about earlier that morning. How she had slapped Dan. That had hurt her more than anything and she couldn't figure out for the life of her why. **_Why is he the only person in the world that I can like a dislike at the same time? He isn't getting to me though. I refuse to fall for him! He slept with me and took advantage of me. I do have to admit that I wish I could remember that. Zoe! I can't believe I'm thinking this! I did it with Dan across the hallway from HANNAH! This is insane! Ok calm down. You need to finish up this case. Just a bit of paper work and then your through. No more Dan! Don't think about him at all. _**She grabbed a pencil and stared at the piece of paper.**_ This is absolutely no use. All I can think about is Dan. Ok if I finish my work I can go talk to Dan._**

   "Get this I'm making a deal with myself! That makes since though. I can't get in trouble for not working and then I can have a lot of time trying to figure out what happened last night. This should only take," Zoe looked down and flipped through a good 20 pages of paper work," three hours."


End file.
